


Fitting Together

by Batbirdies



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Fluff, Gen, It’s all very puzzling, Somewhere in a future time when the boys just get along now, hahahaha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28125372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Batbirdies/pseuds/Batbirdies
Summary: Patrol is cancelled, they’re snowed in and Tim decides to surprise his younger brother with a gag gift.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Damian Wayne
Comments: 12
Kudos: 143





	Fitting Together

**Author's Note:**

> I was bored at work and wrote this on my phone....enjoy!

Tim set the box down without preamble, the little red price sticker glaring off the side as he rounded the table and Damian’s chair to sit opposite him. He was drawing, bent over his sketchbook with a deep frown of concentration.

The pencil scratches paused as Tim slid into his seat. He could see Damian’s eyes moving to look at the offending object near his elbow but he didn’t turn his head. There was a moment of silence and then a scoff before he sent his pencil down and leaned back, giving Tim a _look_. 

“What is this.” 

“It’s a gift,” Tim said simply. 

Damian only scowled before reaching over and sliding the box around to his front so it sat directly between them. He glared at it. “A gift.” 

“Yep.” 

“You must be joking.” 

Tim couldn’t help the quark of his lip, but he resisted the, ‘S _o you’re finally learning humor,’_ quip. 

“A little,” he said instead, offering a one shouldered shrug. “I went with Steph to a consignment store and she dared me to buy it for you.” 

Him telling Damian was probably not part of her dare but Tim didn’t really care. It was funny either way, mostly because the kid couldn’t seem to decide between pretending to be disgusted and open interest as he stared at the bright, shimmery box top. 

“I thought we could work on it together, I’m...a little bored.” Tim had made the $6.26 purchase four days prior and It had been snowing for the last three. There was nearly two feet of snow outside with a thick layer of ice underneath, causing dangerous driving conditions - along with grappling. Patrols had been cancelled and they’d all been stuck inside since just after the gag gift was stashed under Tim’s bed without much thought. He’d been looking for one of his old cameras when he came across it and decided it sounded more interesting than attempting to get the broken bits functional again. 

Damian’s look of distaste only grew at the suggestion they would work on it _together_ , but atom just rolled his eyes. “Come on, it is clearly one of your interests.” He motioned to the box in question, playful kittens and balls of yarn displayed in bright blue and pink in the preview image on the back. 

“It is juvenile, and that is exactly what you meant it to be,” Damian all but snapped. 

“Yeah,” Tim shrugged again, knowing the reaction would be something like this to start with. “But who cares? They’re cute and you like cats. And it’s humorously tacky. That’s what makes it fun.” 

That explanation was...a long shot maybe. Convincing Damian to do something purely because it was fun was sometimes a challenge and even harder if said activity was presented as anything less than _mature._ Doing an old, second-hand puzzle with kittens on it probably didn’t qualify. 

Damian continued staring at it, while Tim attempted to peer over the box and getting a better look at his expression. 

Maybe it was a mistake. If Dick got it for him he’d probably just roll his eyes and make snide comments while they put it together, but from Tim…

“I didn’t mean it as an insult,” he offered, feeling mildly annoyed but trying not to let it show in his voice. “If you don’t want it I’ll just do it myself-“ 

“No,” came the clipped reply, as Damian tipped the box, letting it land flat with a loud noise before he began to lift the lid. “Lord knows we do not need to see what happens when you are bored. And it is not as if there is anything better to do than waste the rest of my afternoon.”

Tim snorted, leaning his elbows on the table as Damian tipped out all the pieces. “I still do not understand _jigsaw puzzles,”_ Tim heard him muttering under his breath. 

“What’s to understand?” He asked, beginning to flip pieces so they were all face up. 

“What is the point?” Damian asked, sounding irritated. Tim had learned at least that the irritation, which used to make him bristle in return, was just his reflexive way of talking. _Especially_ when he didn’t understand something. 

“Well, there’s studies that show doing puzzles is good for memory recall.” 

Damian glanced up, eyebrows lowered skeptically. 

“I’m not saying it’s true but...there’s studies.” 

He snorted this time, an almost actual laugh as he began to separate out the edge pieces. 

“This color scheme is abominable.” 

Tim hummed in agreement. “That was Steph’s favorite part.” 

“Of course it was.” 

*

Tim raised his phone, trying to adjust the angle to get a good photo without a big shiny spot in the center. Damian stood to the side with his arms crossed, frowning deeply. 

“I would not have bothered if I had known it would be missing pieces.” 

“Yeah,” Tim said as he lowered his phone, eyeing the gap that was left right over one of the kitten’s eyes. “The placement is a little unfortunate...Cyclopes kitty.” 

Damian snorted hard enough to choke that time, coughing briefly into his elbow before he shook his head. “That is not funny.” 

Tim smirked, attaching the photo of the finished puzzle to a text along with one of Damian scowling over a half pieced-together kitten face. “Sure.” 


End file.
